Inherent Vice (4/10): The First time I was disappointed with a PTA film

“She came along the alley and up the back steps the way she always used to. Doc hadn't seen her for over a year. Nobody had.”

Before I get a lot of hate for disliking this film I just want to say that I have a lot of respect for Paul Thomas Anderson as a director and have rated all of his previous films with at least four out of five stars. Inherent Vice was one of my most anticipated films for 2014 because his recent movies have been mesmerizing. The Master and There Will Be Blood are both films that I absolutely love. Inherent Vice unfortunately didn’t work for me and I had a very difficult time keeping up with the movie’s plot. I was unfamiliar with Thomas Pynchon’s recent novel which this film was adapted from, and perhaps the movie works best for audiences who have read it, but I just couldn’t follow what was going on. There are many characters who seem to be mumbling their lines and stoned out of their lives, so at times it was hard to figure out wether we were seeing actual events or simple hallucinations. I also had difficulty understanding a lot of the dialogue and found the pacing extremely slow. I put a lot of effort into trying to understand the plot of the film, but I simply didn’t get it. The comedy didn’t work for me either and at times I felt like I was missing a lot of the jokes everyone else seemed to enjoy. It was one of the rare films that I thought I wasn’t going to be able to finish, because I felt tempted to walk out of the movie. I kept with it out of the respect I have for Anderson’s work, but in all honesty I wasn’t able to engage with the characters.

There are some great performances in Inherent Vice. Joaquin Phoenix is impressive and delivers a solid and believable role as Doc Sportello, a private eye who is constantly getting high. Josh Brolin also delivers as Bigfoot, the tough detective who is always on Doc’s back. Katherine Waterston plays this sort of femme fatale who had been Doc’s girlfriend in the past and needs his help investigating her current lover (Played by Eric Roberts). I don’t want to get into details into the plot because it isn’t really important in Inherent Vice. This isn’t your conventional detective mystery story. The narration is hard to follow and many characters are introduced in the story with no specific purpose other than to invade Doc’s world. 

Anderson tends to choose projects that center on the end of an era, and in Inherent Vice it revolves around the end of the psychedelic 60’s. You get this sense of nostalgia towards that era where the hippies dominated the scene. Anderson does a great job at capturing that period very well and he transports us to this time. It is perhaps the greatest thing about this film along with the strong performances, but the lack of a cohesive narrative and its extremely long running time made it very difficult for me to endure. This is the first Anderson film that I have to admit I didn’t enjoy and that I won’t be revisiting any time soon. The story is completely absurd and the humor wasn’t for me. I kind of feel like I’m the odd one out when everyone else is praising the comedy because I simply never got it. It was a very boring and non engaging experience personally, but I still haven’t lost my respect for what Anderson does. I just wasn’t interested in these character and wasn’t able to follow the story (which I think is purposely done this way). I think The Big Lebowski does a much better job of creating a fun experience for the audience with engaging characters without having an important plot. 

My Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (9/10)

"Remember who the real enemy is."

Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) takes over director duty from Gary Ross in the sequel to The Hunger Games franchise which results in a much darker and better film. I know I gave the original Hunger Games film the same rating as this one, but I think I was a little too generous with the first film. Francis clearly sets the right mood and tone for this franchise by giving us a better picture of the world outside of the games. The districts and the Capitol are better portrayed here and we get a sense of who the real enemy is now. In the first film I felt like the enemies were some of the kids from the first districts, while in this sequel you get more of a sense as to why the Capitol and President Snow are the true enemies. The film takes more time to set up this world and it does so with a great sense of pacing and storytelling. The actual Hunger Games don't begin until the second half of the film, but I was ok with the buildup since it was absolutely necessary. Catching Fire gives us glimpses of what we are going to get in the next two films as sparks of a revolution begin to develop, and it also gives us new characters that are certain to play a key role in the upcoming films. These new characters are far better developed than the ones in the first film and the entire film sets things up perfectly for the grand finale. Jennifer Lawrence carries this film and she truly is a girl on fire showing both sides of her persona: her courage and her vulnerability. She balances these elements and the struggles she's going through perfectly and allows the audience to identify with her character. I don't think that two and a half hours have gone by so quickly for me as it did during this movie (I've seen 90 minute films that seemed to be longer than this) because it was just so exciting and engaging. The action during the actual games were also much better developed (no more shaky cams). Catching Fire is probably along with Star Trek Into Darkness the best blockbuster of the year.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrece) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), the winners of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, have returned home. Katniss has turned into a symbol of hope for the people who are beginning to rebel against the totalitarian government of the Capitol under President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Katniss and Peeta's return home is short lived as they embark on a Victor's Tour around all the districts paying their respects to the falling tributes. Despite Katniss's love for Gale (Liam Hemsworth), she is forced to continue with the farce surrounding the media coverage of her relationship with Peeta. Effie (Elizabeth Banks) and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) join Katniss and Peeta as advisors during the tour. President Snow recognizes that Katniss has become a symbol of hope for the people outside of the Capitol and therefore has a surprise for the upcoming Quarter Quell (the 75th Annual Hunger Games). He announces that for this special event a male and female tribute winner from every district will have to compete against each other in this tournament of champions. Katniss and Peeta are the chosen tributes from District 12 who will face other tributes in a special arena designed by the new Head Gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Other tributes include Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin) and Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) who form an alliance with them. President Snow is planning on crushing Panem's new symbol of hope, but Katniss will do what it takes to survive and protect her loved ones.

Francis Lawrence does a much better job here at exploring the different themes that the film is trying to get across. Catching Fire is more than a simple survival tale as other themes such as government oppression, heavily marked social classes, and society's obsession with celebrities are all explored very well. The characters are better developed as well. Take Katniss for example, as she's forced to live a double life feeling hypocritical and imprisoned at times as she has to hide her true feelings for Gale. She doesn't feel like a hero and doesn't want to be that symbol of hope that's she become. She has to come to grips with her new identity and the responsibility that has come with it. Jennifer Lawrence delivers a strong performance as she shows these inner struggles she's facing while at the same time proving she can be lethal. The film is also very well adapted by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) from Suzanne Collins' novel. The returning supporting actors like Lenny Kravitz and Stanley Tucci are phenomenal once again, while the new characters played by Jenna Malone, Sam Claflin, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Jeffrey Wright have sparked my interest as to what they can bring to this franchise. They were all very well developed and add so much to a first part which in my opinion was dependent entirely on Jennifer Lawrence. She carries this film once again, but has an even more impressive supporting cast to leave us even more hooked with the cliffhanger ending. This film was great and I haven't even mentioned the amazing sets and awesome costume designs that went up a notch from last year's Hunger Games. Catching Fire is an upgrade over the original film and one you should definitely give a chance.

My Review: Donnie Darko (5/10)

¨28 days... 6 hours... 42 minutes... 12 seconds. That... is when the world... will end.¨

Donnie Darko is Richard Kelly`s first feature film and considered by many to be by far his best work. This dark and mysterious movie has reached cult status among many film lovers thanks to its original and eerie premise. I on the other hand, just recently watched it and didn’t enjoy the movie all that much. This isn’t my first Kelly film, since I saw The Box a few years back and really hated that movie so I was hoping Donnie Darko would be a lot better. It was better thanks to the performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and the atmosphere set up by Kelly, but it still didn’t work for me and once again I was disappointed with the ending of the film. Richard Kelly also wrote the original screenplay for Donnie Darko and at times the movie seemed to be heading into very interesting territories, but it just never managed to stay that way and ended up drifting everywhere. Many things that happened didn’t make much sense for me, but that is the way science fiction films work, some love it while others hate it and consider the events taking place to be impossible. For a movie dealing with time travel and such I think Back to the Future is the one to be put on the pedestal. Too many elements in Donnie Darko are just pointless in my opinion, but those elements are perhaps why many people consider this film to be a masterpiece. Donnie Darko is a divisive movie which some will love and others hate. You will just have to watch it and make your own judgment.

In the beginning of the movie we are introduced to a young and troubled teen named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) who wakes up in the middle of nowhere one morning and drives his bike home. Donnie lives with his parents Eddie (Holmes Osborne) and Rose (Mary McDonnell) and two sisters Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Samantha (Daveigh Chase). His family is worried about his behavior and he is sort of the outcast in class as well. He has therapy sessions with Dr. Lillian Thurman (Katharine Ross) and confesses to have an imaginary friend named Frank who is dressed up as a demon faced bunny. Frank has told Donnie that the world will end in 28 days and he also makes him commit a series of vandal acts. Dr. Thurman is afraid that Donnie is suffering from severe psychotic disorder. One morning a jet engine falls from the sky right into Donnie`s room, but Donnie was saved because he had slept walk to a golf course that night following Frank`s instructions. Donnie believes that Frank is some sort of messenger from the future and begins to ask question to his teachers in school about time travel. He also begins to date a new classmate named Gretchen (Jena Malone) who has also gone through a very dark past. As the apocalyptic date approaches, Donnie tries to find a way to change things.

This dark science fiction drama has a lot of missing pieces that the audience is forced to put together by using their imagination (unless you watch the director`s cut which is a lot more explanatory). The film doesn’t seem to follow similar premises from other movies, it is original and sometimes it feels like nothing really is happening that is connected with other events. That is the feeling I got with Donnie Darko, that it was a very disconnected film and hard to encapsulate at times. It`s as if the movie doesn’t know what it really wants to be. The characters aren`t really interesting either, the only true character that is given depth in this film is Donnie Darko and his behavior is really bizarre at times. Gyllenhaal`s performance was great, but that is the only thing I enjoyed about this movie. Kelly has had a difficult time trying to follow up his work from this film since his next two films have failed and not reached the same cult status as this movie did. Donnie Darko could have been a masterpiece if Kelly would have found a way to piece everything together at the end, but it left me with a sour taste.

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My Review: Sucker Punch (3/10)

¨ Who teaches us what`s real, and how to laugh at lies? Who decides why we live, and what we'll die to defend? Who trains us, and who holds the key to set us free? It's you. You have all the weapons you need. Now fight! ¨

Zach Snyder has adapted various graphic novels into films in the past and I enjoyed his movies very much; I was a big fan of 300 and Watchmen and I thought those movies were terrific. In Sucker Punch Snyder tries something new; he wrote the story instead of adapting another novel, but still tried to give it the same feel and look his other films had. The look of the film is also stylish, full of CGI, and the graphics make us think we are playing a videogame instead of watching a movie. This style worked for me in the past because Snyder`s stories were interesting. In Sucker Punch I just couldn’t get into the story, I didn’t like any of the characters, and thought the plot was just ridiculous. The approach was also very hypocritical because the movie tries to preach about female empowerment and girl power, but the entire time the movie is targeted towards a male audience; we have girls fighting in short skirts, and the male characters have little screen time. I can see how this movie might be enjoyed by a young male audience, but it just didn’t work for me. Comparing it to 300 and Watchmen this movie doesn’t even come close, but even before watching Sucker Punch I had lowered my expectations with the trailer. I understood the metaphor and ideas the story was trying to get across, but it was just meaningless with these characters since they weren’t even developed at all. There was not one interesting character, they were all one dimensional. The screenplay was adapted by Snyder himself and Steve Shibuya, but the entire movie relies only on the CGI.

Baby Doll (Emily Browning) is sent to a mental asylum by her stepfather (Gerard Plunkett) after her mother dies and she accidently kills her little sister while trying to protect her from her abusive stepfather. She was aiming at him, but she missed and her little sister suffered the consequences. Baby Doll is institutionalized and in five days the doctor will perform a lobotomy on her so that she forgets everything her stepfather has done. Blue (Oscar Isaac) receives an important amount of money from the stepdad to make sure the doctor signs the ok for the lobotomy. Dr. Vera Gorski (Carla Gugino who also starred in Watchmen with Snyder) never signs the petition because Blue falsifies the signature and so everything is set for within five days when the Doctor (Jon Hamm) comes back. Baby Doll isn’t alone in the asylum. She befriends four other female companions: Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) and her sister, Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), and Amber (Jamie Chung who was recently seen in The Hangover 2). Baby Doll decides to create an alternate reality in order to avoid her pain and guilt. In this fantastical world she becomes a sort of warrior and with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn) she comes up with a plan to escape the mental facility. Along with her four friends they go on a mission to retrieve the five elements they will need in order to escape. In this fantastical world they have to face ninja robots, Nazi zombie`s and different kind of monsters. The lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur as they try to collect the items and break free from the asylum.

The characters are so poorly developed that I really didn’t care whether or not they escaped the institution. Even the fantasy clips in which all the main action and cool effects take place felt more like music videos due to the loud music and videogame style graphic. The movie is empty; simply eye candy and I couldn’t see anything philosophical or deep about it. I really was disappointed with this movie, but I know Zach Snyder will bounce back. He should stick to graphic novels. As for the performances there was nothing remarkable about any of them, but the cast isn’t to blame because the entire movie relied only on the special effects and not on trying to develop the characters. The effects are interesting at some times, but we`ve seen them all before and there is nothing new to Sucker Punch. This will definitely be on my list of worst films of the year; it was a huge disappointment for me. Everyone has the right to make a bad film; even Pixar came short with Cars 2 so I don’t think Zach Snyder should be worrying about how things turned out in Sucker Punch. Some young males might want to check this movie out, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

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My Review: The Messenger (8/10)

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¨Men don’t ask for directions, much less soldiers. Soldiers on a notification, definitely, positively do not ask for freaking directions. No GPS, no Map Quest, we navigate.¨

(8/10) Oren Moverman co-wrote and directed this great film focusing on the impact the war of Iraq has on its soldiers and their families. The Hurt Locker got a lot more critical attention, but in my opinion The Messenger is also a great movie with a lot of psychological depth and great performances from the entire cast. It is a movie you won`t want to miss if you are interested in good acting and character driven films. It is not a popcorn action film and some may find it slow, but it is a good movie, and it focuses on the characters rather than on special effects or action scenes. It is also very well written; Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon received Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay. This was Moverman´s directorial debut and it is quite impressive as he managed to get great performances from everyone. He had previously written I`m Not There, but what really helped him with this film was his personal experience as he served in the Israeli Army for four years. No one can possibly understand the psychological impact of war in the soldiers as someone who has actually been in one, so that personal insight was what gave this movie a real look to it.

Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster from 3:10 to Yuma) just returned from the Iraq War after being injured in an explosion. He still has 3 months left of service and is being treated back home in the States for an eye and leg injury. Will is being assigned to work with the Casualty Notification Team for the remainder of his enlistment days. He has the difficult task of informing the family`s of deceased US soldiers that they were killed in action. He is paired with a more experienced officer, Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) who shows him the protocol.  He soon discovers that the job is more difficult than he imagined and is not prepared for the reactions of the family members. Meanwhile he maintains a sexual relationship with his ex girlfriend Kelly (Jena Malone from Stepmom) who happens to be engaged with another man since they broke up when Will was at Iraq. Will and Tony both have their own issues to deal with, but they manage to establish a nice friendship. Will is surprised one day after informing a young woman, named Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton from Minority Report),  about the death of her husband. Her reaction is unlike the rest and she seems to be very polite towards them. Olivia and Will form a friendship and their relationship begins to grow despite the awkward situation. The movie is very character driven and it focuses mainly on these four characters and their relationship with each other.

The Messenger works mainly because of the performances from the entire cast. Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson are just great. Woody actually was nominated for the Oscar as a Best Supporting Actor, but Ben Foster also gave a terrific performance in the lead role and he deserved a nomination as well. Samantha Morton was also extremely believable in her role as Olivia and felt very natural. These good performances along with great dialogue and character depth are what make The Messenger such a great film. The psychological impact in the characters is also very raw and real and the film just develops nicely. The beginning started off a bit slow, but as the movie moves on we are really drawn to the characters and the relationships that bind them. The Messenger is not another movie about the Iraq War, it is a movie you won`t want to miss even though it was kind of forgotten after all the hype that The Hurt Locker received. This is not a better film than that one, but it still is one I recommend and enjoyed.

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